Escondido Market Update

Escondido Housing Market  as of 2-15-2010

This week the median price for a home in the  Escondido real estate area was $399,900. This is down from the median price in November of 2009 of $415,000.  The average asking price per squae foot was $193.  The inventory of Escondido homes for sale is increasing.  This is partially due to the usual homes coming on the market after the first of the year.  The other contributing factor, and somewhat more concerning, is the slow down in sales of Escondido homes. In is definitely a buyers market as the demand level is low relative to the available inventory of Escondido homes for sale.  This weakening Escondido real estate market has caused prices to start to come down. See the chart below for trends supplied by Altos Research.

Escondido Market Data

Another good way to look at Escondido real estate data is to look at sales by quartiles, the most expensive to the least. In the top or first quartile the median sales price was $749,500.  Down from $875,000.  In the second quartile Escondido housing prices were $485,000, down from $508,000. In the 3rd quartile Escondido properties had a median price of $319,990, down from $339,000 .  And in the bottom quartile Escondido housing had a median price of $217,000 which was up from $210,000 last November.  To get more current market conditions on Escondido homes for sale, call Gary Harmon, your Prudential California Realty Escondido Realtor.

Pledge to Escondido Home Buyers during Negoiations

Escondido Floral

“Someone accepted the offer on the Escondido house that I wrote, now what?”   This is a question that I get from a lot of Escondido house buyers.   After week of searching, they have found their Escondido dream home.  Not it is time to write an offer and start the negoiations.  But, how much should you offer?  How much will be enough or too much?  Here are some of the things that happen during the negotiation process.  I will strive to provide the following services:

  • Review with my Escondido buyer all the forms and documents involved in buying Escondido real estate.  The purchase documents and supporting documentation on your Escondido home purchase are prepared online in a computer program called ” Winforms.”  These forms are uniform California Association of Realtor (CAR) forms used by all Escondido Realtors.  They can be printed, faxed, e-faxed, or sent to you as pdf attachments.
  • Provide a copy of all documents needed for the lender you have selected for your Escondido home purchase.   HomeServices Lending is one of the Gary Harmon team members and is an excellent choice.
  • Prepare a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) showing comparable Escondido properties currently on the market, in escrow, or recently sold.  This comparison will aid you in making an informed decision on your initial offering price and any counters that are usually necessary.
  • Present your  Escondido real estate purchase offer to the sellers on your behalf.
  • Present your Escondido home purchase offer in a timely manner and in person if you desire.
  • Discuss with Escondido buyers the most comfortable negotiating strategy and work within your parameters based on our current Escondido housing market conditions.
  • Based on the type of Escondido housing offer you choose to write, discuss the best possible strategy to get your offer approved.
  • Inform you immediately of the Escondido sellers response to your offer when presented.
  • Keep you updated daily on the progress be made during the negoiations.  If your offer is on a bank owned property or short sale, will keep you up to date as information becomes available.
  • Deliver to you the final executed purchase documents on your new Escondido real estate.

For more information on what takes place during the purchase of Escondido properties, contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.  See Gary’s eariler post on what takes place during a home search:  http://www.garyharmon.com/buyers/garys-service-pledge-to-escondido-buyers.  Watcht for a new post  that will  describe what happens during the escrow period on your Escondido house.  Gary is proud to recomment Pickford Escrow.

Gary's Service Pledge to Escondido Buyers

Escondido HomeDuring Escondido Home Search

  • Guard your privacy by keeping all aspects of your Escondido property search confidential.
  • Keep you updated on newly listed Escondido houses or price changes.
  • Set up custom Escondido property searches on the Internet that meet your desired critera.
  • Search daily the San Diego MLS for new Escondido homes for sale.
  • Search daily for “unlisted Escondido properties.”
  • Communicate with you reguarding your Escondido home search in the manner you choose:  email, phone, text.
  • Assist you as necessary in getting an pre-approval letter from a lender li ke HomeServices Lending.
  • Provide you with market information on Escondido properties needed to make an informed purchase decision.
  • Tour the local Escondido homes for sale with you.

For more information on buying an Escondido houses, contact Gary Harmon, your local Escondido Realtor.  Watch for future post on the negotiating process and the escrow process when buying Escondido real estate.

7 Steps to Earthquake Safety

Escondido HomeEverywhere in the Escondido real estate area may be susceptible to damage from an earthquake, maybe even a big one.  We all need to be ready.

  1. Identify earthquake hazards in your Escondido home. Secure everything around your Escondido property that might  fall and hurt someone.  This is easily done if you do items as you buy them.  For example, when I bought my big screen tv, I secured it to the wall of my Escondido home with a safety wire.  If you are starting from scratch, buy a stud finder at Escondido Home Depot or Lowes and use it to find the proper studs.  Of course, the water heater in the garage must have straps.
  2. Create a diaster plan. Talk with each one in your family and plan what to do in case of an earthquake.  Have a meeting place outside of your Escondido home, but close by so everyone can be quickly accounted for.  Learn basic first aid if possible.  Have a place away from your Escondido property you can call, preferably out of state.  The out of state phone lines won’t be as crowded.  Learn how to deal with a lack of utilities and basic services.  Also, expect aftershocks.
  3. Make up some disaster supplies kits.  These kits would be useful in any type of emergency.  Everyone in your Escondido home should have one.  It is a good idea to have one at home, school, work, etc.    You should have a large kit for your home that would last everyone three days to a week.  These kits should contain food, water, clothes, and sanitary supplies.  Your San Diego Red Cross sells kits and also has tips on what to put in the kits if you make your own.
  4. Have your Escondido property checked to identify any weaknesses.   There are common issues that a home inspector will know that could help your Escondido home be stronger.  If you just purchase an  Escondido home, your Escondido real estate inspector will have made sure you had earthquake straps.
  5. During an Earthquake you should drop, cover and hold on.  Drop to the floor, take cover under a strong table or desk, and hold on firmly.  If there are no tables closeby, drop to the floor next to an interior wall of your Escondido home.
  6. After the quake, check everything for damages or injuries.  Always be calm and take care of yourself  first so you will be ok to help others.  When  you are sure you are safe, then you can start helping others.  You need to know how to turn off leaking gas, water, or electricity if necessary.
  7. When you know you ae safe, you can continue to follow your disaster plan.  Stay away from the coast if there is any possibility of a tsunami.  Listen to your battery powered radio for any emergency instructions.  The station would be 600 AM .   Call your out of area contact and let them know you are ok.     For Escondido real estate information, call Gary Harmon, your top Escondido Realtor.

Reduce Your Escondido Property Taxes

Decline in Escondido Home Values

Prudential California RealtyMost Escondido home owners are aware that Escondido property values have been declining.  In many parts of San Diego County, the decline has been relatively dramatic. That decline may mean a reduction in Escondido property taxes, however.  Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment passed in California in 1978, allows a temporary reduction in assessed value (which is what your Escondido property taxes are based on) when a property suffers a “decline-in-value.” That decline in Escondido home value occurs when the Escondido real estate market value of the Escondido property is less than the assessed value as of January 1st.  Does a decline in a property’s market value require a reduction in Escondido property taxes? The answer is that it depends on the Market Value and the Taxable Value.

 

  • Market Value – Is how much the property would sell for (the unconditional sales price)
  • Taxable Value – Is established by the Assessor, (the Prop. 13 value), and this value may be increased by a
    CPI factor of up to 2% per year as specified by California laws

A temporary reduction in Escondido property taxes can only be granted if the Escondido home Market Value falls below the Prop. 13 value (Taxable Value).   Some property purchased in 2005, 2006 and 2007 would be the most likely to qualify. Property is valued for property tax purposes each year as of January 1. If you’d like information about recent comparable sales in the Escondido real estate  area to see what today’s value may be, simply contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.   I’d be happy to help you!

Grade Your Realtors Website

Shop and Compare

Gary's GradeNo matter what you decide to buy in life, you always shop and compare and try to make sure you are getting the best value for your money.  Before you hire an Escondido Realtor to sell your home, you should definitely do the same thing.  After all, your Escondido property is probably your most important investment.

According to the San Diego North County Association of Realtors over 87% of Escondido home buyers start their search on the Internet. Before you hire someone to sell your Escondido property, you want to make sure they will maximize the chance of Selling your Escondido home. Is there an objective way to measure your Escondido Realtors website marketing effectiveness?  There are really two ways and the first is called Website Grader.

Website Grader

Website Grader is a free tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of your Escondido Realtors website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. To use Website Grader go to the webpage: http://websitegrader.com/.  Enter the url address of any Escondido Realtor webpages that you would like to check. Then click on the box that says “Generate Report.” The higher the score the more effective is the Realtors website. The Website Grader score of Gary Harmon.com is “89.”

Google Keywords

The second way to grade your Escondido Realtors website is to see how it ranks in Google. Go to http://www.google.com/ and type in different search words that should apply to selling your Escondido real estate. Try “escondido realtor, escondido real estate, or escondido homes.” A good Escondido realtors webpage is found on page one or two of Google.

Pick the Best

Before you list your Escondido home, check out your Realtors website. Pick an Escondido Realtor that has a site that will mazimize the chance of getting the most visitors to their site. Pick a site with a high Website Grader Score and a high Google page rank. Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor has such a site. Hire Gary Harmon with Prudential California Realty and put Gary’s winning team to work for you.

Advice for Buyers

Escondido home buyers should be aware as long as incentives are in place Escondido home sales in the conforming loan ranges will be brisk.
Get pre-qualified with a reputable lender like HomeServices Lending powered by Wells Fargo.  Keep mortgage interest rates in perspective
with Escondido real estate prices. The historical median for mortgage interest rates is 9%, over three and a half points higher than it is today. Home prices are almost where they were ten years ago in some areas of Southern California. If you pay a higher interest rate now than last month, remember you’re way ahead on price.

The graph below shows how many months of  home inventory is on the market by price.  For more information, contact Gary Harmon, you informed Escondido Realtor.  Please click on graph to enlarge.

Months of Inventory

Escondido Property Tax Refunds -Where Are They?

Escondido Property TaxProperty Tax Refunds on Escondido Real Estate

Where is your Escondido property tax refund on your Escondido home.  The price of your Escondido property has gone down every year for the last four or five years. You have filed a request with the County to refigure your assessed value on you Escondido home, but you keep paying the high property taxes here in San Diego.  You are in the same  boat as thousands of other Escondido home owners.
I am including an article from the North County Times to expose the problem.

“The San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office continues to take in millions of dollars more in property taxes than is owed and then lags in returning the money to taxpayers, according to a 2009 audit. The examination of the treasurer’s property tax refund account concluded that nearly $8 million needed to be refunded or funneled to the county’s general fund if the person or entity who was owed the money could not be located.

It’s been a problem that stretches back to 2003 and has dragged on, despite a series of examinations in the years since. The most recent independent audit, conducted over nine months by the firm of Kessler International, found a variety of problems in how the treasurer’s office manages what is known as the Property Tax Trust and Refund account. That report was issued in March but never shared with the public.” Of course, this is an election year and Dan is running again.

This problem will not be easily solved, but Dan McAllister vows changes are being implemented to correct years-old problem.  If you would like to find out how to lower your property taxes, contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.  Gary Harmon will provide you with a property tax reassessment form along with instructions on how and when to file.

Escondido Homes for Sale and Escondido Foreclosures

Welcome to my Escondido Homes featured listing page.  Click on the hot links below by price to get a fast start.  If you would like to see an area not shown you can set up your own personalized search by zip code, area, price, features, and much more.  Start your own custom serarch here.   You can also see Escondido foreclosures, auction, or pre-forclosure homes at “Free Foreclosure Search.”  For a personalized tour of any of these Escondido homes contact Gary Harmon.
Escondido Homes $300k – $400k
Escondido Homes $400k-$500k
All Other Price Ranges 
See Video and learn how to SEARCH LIKE AN AGENT!

Saftey Tips to Protect Your Escondido Home

House FireHere in San Diego North County winter is upon us.  We are getting our usually limited rain, and the mornings and nights are a little chilly.  If you are thinking of using a small portable heater in you Escondido home please observe these safety tips.

  • Don’t use an extension cord  to plug in your heater in you Escondido home.  Using any type of cord will greatly increase the chance of a home fire.
  • Don’t use your heater on the same circut in your Escondido home as other electrical appliances that use a lot of electricity.  The circuit in you Escondido property could easily overload.
  • Don’t use your portable heater near sources of combustion in you Escondido real estate.  For example, a lot of heaters in your Escondido home should not be used on carpets or under desk or counters.

A little common sense will go a long way in helping help protect your Escondido real estate.  House fires here in Escondido and San Diego North County are the single biggest source of diasters that effect most people.  There is a house fire every 28 hours according  to the San Diego American Red Cross.  For more helpful information or to buy or sell an Escondido property, contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.